KC-area senator’s church campaign donations not illegal, state watchdog finds
A Kansas City-area state senator did not violate Missouri campaign finance law when his church donated to a political action committee that supported his campaign, the state’s ethics watchdog found this month.
The Missouri Ethics Commission, in a decision released this month, dismissed an ethics complaint filed against Sen. Joe Nicola, a Grain Valley Republican. The complaint alleged the church Nicola founded, New Covenant Ministries in Independence, acted as an unregistered PAC to potentially conceal the identities of donors.
The Ethics Commission found that Nicola’s church did not accept political contributions. Instead, the commission said New Covenant Ministries accepted donations, which became the church’s personal funds. The church’s financial board then decided how the money would be spent.
Nicola, the founding pastor of the church, recused himself from the church’s decision to make the contribution to Truth and Light PAC, a political action committee that contributed to his campaign committee, the Ethics Commission said.
The commission also said there was no proof that the church donations were earmarked to support Nicola or that the “donations were given after solicitations to support Mr. Nicola.”
“I appreciate the Missouri Ethics Commission’s thorough review and am pleased with their finding that no violation of (state law) occurred,” Nicola said in a statement. “I take seriously my responsibility to follow both the letter and the spirit of the law, and I’m grateful this matter has been resolved appropriately.”
The complaint was filed by Brad Ketcher, an attorney who previously worked in the Missouri Governor’s Office under former Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan.
“I am disappointed in the outcome, but respect the Commission’s decision,” Ketcher said in a statement.
Ketcher’s complaint came after reporting from The Star revealed the church donations. Nicola’s church had given $3,150 to a political action committee called Truth and Light that supported his candidacy. The PAC in turn contributed to Nicola’s campaign committee at least three times, including twice since 2023.
The nature of the donations, The Star found, was largely unheard of in Missouri politics and raised questions from legal experts who pointed to the fact that federal law banned churches and other charities from engaging in political activity.
Nicola defended the donations at the time, saying his church, while a registered state nonprofit exempt from local taxes, could contribute to the PAC because it was not registered federally with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization.
“I teach my congregation to be an active part of society and politics is part of that,” Nicola said at the time. “There’s no such thing as separation of church and state. That’s a misnomer…The 501(c)(3) is just government regulations.”
On top of the Ethics Commission dismissal, Nicola’s church may not have any federal trouble either. In a surprise ruling earlier this month, the IRS said it would allow churches to endorse political candidates, reversing what was known as the Johnson Amendment.
Nicola went on to win both a hotly-contested Republican primary and general election for state Senate last year, flipping a Jackson County seat previously held by the chamber’s top Democratic leader.
The dismissal regarding Nicola also marks one of the Ethics Commission’s first major actions after Gov. Mike Kehoe restored a quorum to the panel. The commission had been hampered by vacancies, resulting in dozens of complaints thrown out with no action or investigation over the past two years.
